Performance of NAT64 versus NAT44 in the Context of IPv6 Migration

IPv4 address exhaustion is now upon us. Yet, we still live with uncertainty on what to do with the situation. This paper aims to pave the way for Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) migration in the Philippines and similar countries using Network Address Translation (NAT) technology. This is achieved by showing service providers that there is already a clear and easy path to migration by using a similar NAT technology, NAT Ipv6 to IPv4 (NAT64). This was done through experimental and live laboratory network tests using NAT44 and NAT64 technologies to show that NAT64s performance is comparable to current NAT44 networks. The setup was implemented using Linux based software and systems to be cost-effective in the translation. Throughput and Round Trip Time (RTT) were used to compare the experimental networks. Results showed that NAT64 has a slight improvement over NAT44 networks in terms of throughput. The Live laboratory networks focused on RTT, CPU and Memory utilization. These results validated the slight improvement brought about by NAT64 in terms of RTT and showed that NAT64 has a lower CPU and Memory utilization. In conclusion, NAT64 as a transition mechanism can be implemented easily and clearly has benefits for current NAT44 networks. Full IPv6 implementation is still in its early stages and more research will be beneficial to the future Internet. This makes prolongation strategies like these more important.